Cisco Kills Development of the Cius Tablet in Face of BYOD, Cloud

The networking and collaboration vendor instead will focus on growing its software efforts, such as the Jabber UC platform and WebEx online meeting solution.

Cisco Systems Android-based Cius tablet has become a victim of the rapidly growing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend in the enterprise.

The networking giant will no longer invest in the two-year-old device, though it will offer Cius in a limited way to customers with specific needs. But there won't be any more development of the platform, or any more enhancements. The decision to essentially end development of Cius is the latest by Cisco to move away from particular hardware endpoints and instead focus on is software-based collaboration products, such as Jabber and WebEx.

It also mirrors similar strategies by other tech stalwarts--such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell--to expand beyond their hardware roots to become more of a solutions vendor with strong software and services offerings.

In a May 24 post on Cisco's collaboration blog, O.J. Winge, senior vice president of Cisco's TelePresence Technology Group, talked about the BYOD trend that is permeating the enterprise and how it is fundamentally changing how people collaborate.

" W e are facing a workplace that is no longer a physical place, but a blend of virtual and physical environments; where employees are bringing their preferences to work and BYOD ( Bring Your Own Device to work) is the new norm; where collaboration has to happen beyond a walled garden; and any-to-any connectivity is a requirement, not a nice to have," Winge wrote.

That sentiment was backed up in Cisco's IBSG Horizons Study released May 16 which indicated that 95 percent of organizations responding to the survey said they allowed employee-owned devices into the workplace in some fashion, and that 36 percent of enterprises offer full support for such devices.

Other trends in the enterprise, including cloud computing, virtualization and the growth of video, also are contributing to the need for greater software solutions.

Given that scenario, enterprises are looking for fewer devices from tech vendors and more software offerings that enable businesses to leverage the devices--including laptops, smartphones and tablets--that are being used in the workplace by employees. IT vendors are rolling out more software solutions designed to make it easier for businesses to manage these mobile devices and secure the corporate network and data.

At the same time, they are making their collaboration and other applications available on the growing number of devices running on the major mobile platforms, from Apple-s iOS and Google's Android to BlackBerries and Microsoft's Windows.